Control mechanism for machines for panning bread and like doughs



Jan. 2, 1951 l. M. ARCHER 7 2,536,250

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MACHINES FOR PANNING BREAD AND LIKE novel-1s Original Filed Dec. 18, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 43 IN V EN T 0R.

ATTORMfVS Jan. 2, 1951 2,536,250

I. M. ARCHER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MACHINES FOR PANNING BREAD AND LIKE DOUGHS Original Filed Dec. 18, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 64 F40 52 4-39 +3- 1 1 If a 62 (53 i2 E -Z0 7 2/- 4/-" I K INVENTOR.

0707!? M. fi mer ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 2, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL MECHANISM FOR MACHINES FOR PANNINGBREAD AND LIKE DOUGHS Irving M. Archer, Dallas, Tex, assignor to Campbell Taggart Research Corporation, Kansas City, Mot, a corporation of Missouri 6 Claims.

This invention relates to detent mechanisms for stopping and releasing articles moving in progression, for example, pans through a panning machine as disclosed in my copendin application, Serial No. 568,626, filed December 18, 1944, and of which the present application is a division.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide a control and release mechanism that is positive in operation and is of simple and inexpensive construction.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention hereinafter pointed out, I have provided improved structure, the preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side 'elevational view of a detent and release mechanism constructed in accordance with the present invention and illustrated as applied to a bread panning machine, the detent mechanism being shown in pan stopping position.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the detent and release mechanism in position for releasing and permitting advance of the pans.

Fig. 3 is a cross section through the machine.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the latch and registering wheel assembly, together with the supporting brackets whereby the assembly is adapted to be readily removed and replaced with another assembly suitable to different size pans.

Fig. 5 is a side View of the latch wheel for stopping a pan after sufficient advance to effect deposit of two pieces of dough in a pan as when baking twin or divided loaves of bread.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

I designates a panning machine equipped with the present invention and which includes a supporting frame 2 carrying a pair of laterally spaced conveyer belts 3 and 4 operating over pulleys 5 at the respective ends of the frame 2 and adapted for deliverin pans into receiving relation with a 'conveyer '5 which delivers pieces of dough I from a molding machine for deposit in the pans as they move into receiving position with respect to the discharge end of the conveyer 6. The pans 8 are of any standard type and may be individual or strapped together as desired. The pans are spaced apart incidental to theshape thereof as indicated at 9. The pans are retained in alignment on the conveyer belts by guide rails l9 and H suitably supported by the frame 2.

The delivery end of the dough depositing conveyer 6 is guided by pulleys l2 and 83 arranged relative to each other to provide an inclined run 14 down which the pieces of dough I slide into the pans as the pans are advanced by the conveyer belts.

In order to stop a pan in dough receiving position, the machine is equipped with a pan detent and registering mechanism 45 now to be described.

In carrying out the present invention, the mechanism l5 includes a substantially disk-like rotor it that is fixed to a shaft l'l having the ends i8 and i9 thereof rotatably mounted in bearing brackets 20 and 2| carried by the respective sides of the frames 2 as best shown in Fig. 3, the rotor being preferably positioned midway between the conveyer belts whereby projecting stops or fingers 22 on the periphery thereof are adapted to engage within the spaces 9 substantially in the manner of teeth of a gear wheel meshing with the spaces between the teeth of a rack, the rack being analogous to the pans. The fingers 22 are of a length and spacing to accommodate the pans therebetween and other rotors are substituted when pans of different width or pacing are to be used.

Mounted on the shaft H are latch Wheels 23 and 24 which are arranged on the respective sides of a detent supporting lever 25. The latch wheels 23 and 2d have hubs 25 adapted to be secured to the shaft l l by set screws or the like 2'! whereby the latch Wheels are removable from operating relation with the lever and secured by tightening the set screws so that the latch wheels are turned Wit-h the rotor the latch wheels 24 being omitted from the illustrations in Figs. 1 and 2 for the sake of clarity. The latch wheel 23 has a periphery shaped to provide a plurality of dwells 28 corresponding in number with the fingers 22 on the rotor. Interposed between the dwells are cam portions 29 that extend from radial detent engaging faces 39 in rounding curves to join with curved portions 3! of a next adjacent dwell as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The latch wheel 2 is of somewhat similarform with the exception that the dwells are arranged in pairs 32 and 33 with the pairs related to the fingers 2-2 on the rotor to provide detent engaging faces 34 and 35.

In order that the shaft l'i, rotor, and latch wheels may be inserted and removed as a unit as when substituting a unit having latch wheels and finger spacing necessary for controlling pans of different widths and spacing, the brackets 2:3 and 2! have upwardly op ning sockets 36 through which the ends of the shaft H are readily passed for support in bearing portions ill in the bottoms thereof (Fig. 4). To position rotors of different diameter relative to the pans, the bearing brackets have plate portions 38 provided with slots 39 registering with threaded openings it in legs ii and 42 of the frame to pass fastening devices such as bolts 43 (Fig. 3) whereby the brackets may be raised and lowered so that the periphery of a selected rotor will substantially register with the plane of the upper run of the conveyer belts. The detent lever 25 is pivotally mounted on a stud it carried by a bracket 45 (Fig. 3). The lever has one arm '36 extending to the latch wheels and terminates thereover for supporting laterally directed detents t? and 58 on the respective sides thereof, the detents being shaped to seat within the dwells of the respective latch wheels. The lever also has a rearwardly extending arm d9 connected by a clevis 58 with the armature of an electromagnet 52, the electromagnet being mounted on a shelf 53, which shelf also carries the bracket 55. The shelf in turn is carried by arms 5 projecting from the brackets 29 and 2| previously described.

The electromagnet 52 includes interconnected pole pieces 55 and 55, one of which mounts a winding 5! and the other an armature 55, the armature being pivotally connected by a pin 58 extending through depending ears 59 on the armature and registering ears 5!) on the pole pieces 55. spaced position with respect to the pole pieces by a coil spring 55 having one end anchored to the base 62 of the magnet and the other end to a pin 63 projecting from the pivoted end of the armature. The spring preferably has only sufiicient action to lift the armature from the pole pieces and supplement the weight of the arm 25 of the leverin retaining one of the detents in engagement with its latch wheel as later described.

In order to effect a slightly greater pull on the armature when circuit is broken through the winding, I provide a secondary spring i3 3 having one end 65 anchored to the arm d6 of the detent lever and having its other end 55 extending loose- 1y through an opening in the shelf 5-3 and carrying a stop 6'? on the underside of the shell, the length of the spring being sufficient so that when a detent is in engagement with a dwell of a latch wheel, the stop 5? is spaced from the shelf as 'shown in Fig. 1 and the spring is contracted. Therefore, the magnet does not have to overcome the action in the spring during the initial attractive force of the pole pieces on the armature; however, during the final movement of the armature, the stop 6-? engages the underside of the shelf as shown in Fig. 2 and the spring is loaded so that when the current is broken in the magnet winding, the action in the secondary spring supplements that of the primary spring to overcome any magnetism remaining in the pole pieces. Therefore, the detent lever is quickly disengaged and automatically returned to latching engagemnt with one or the other of the latch wheels depending upon which of the wheels is being used as later described.

In order to effect release of the detent lever whenever a piece of dough l is in position to be deposited in a pan, the panning machine is provided with a vane 68 fixed to a shaft 69 that is adjustably supported on brackets '59 and ii that are carried by the rod-like frame '52 which includes a cross bar portion 73 mounting brackets and leg portions M which terminate in foot portions 75 adjustable in sleeve portions 85 of brackets 18, the brackets l8 being fixed to the sides of the main frame 2. Carried by the bracket II is a switch '39 having a projecting push pin 84] adapted to be actuated to close circuit through the switch by a spring leaf 8! as shown in Fig. 1. Fixed on the shaft 69 in registry with the spring 82 is a cam 83 having a high lobe portion 84 arranged to preses against the spring when the shaft is rocked through deflection of the vane 68 by a piece of dough discharged from the conveyer 6.

One terminal of the switch is connected by a conductor 85 with a service wire 8? while the The armature is normally retained in.

other terminal of the switch is connected by a conductor 88 with one of the terminals of the electromagnet, the other terminal being connected by a conductor 89 with the other service wire 99 to complete an electric circuit through the magnet winding when the switch is closed.

The full line current may be supplied to the magnet for effecting initial pull on the armature and to prevent heating of the winding by the current after the initial surge has passed through the magnet winding, a resistance element 9i is connected into the conductor 88 by branch conductors 92 and 93, the resistance element illustrated being a lamp having a filament 9a which when cold offers little resistance to the fiow of current in the electromagnet winding but as the lamp filament heats the electrical resistance increases to automatically reduce the current flow through the winding; however, by this time the armature has snapped to closed and the current flow is ample to retain the armature.

It is thus obvious that a high initial surge of current is passed through the magnet to effect positive closure of the armature and that the current is automatically reduced by the rapidly increasing resistance of the heating filament to avoid excessive heating of the magnet coil.

The resistance element may be located in any convenient position but is shown as mounted adjacent the electromagnet on the shelf 53. The vane 68 is kept in circuit opening position by a counterbalance 95 mounted on an arm 96 extend ing from the shaft 69.

In operating a machine constructed and assembled as described, the pans 8 which may be in strapped units as shown, are placed on the conveyer belts 3 and 4 in side to side relation so that they are carried under the conveyer belt 6 as shown in Fig. 1. The belts 3 and 4 being continuously driven, move the pans therealong unti1 the foremost pan engages an upwardly rojecting.

finger 22 of one of the rotors. When a single piece of dough is to be deposited in each pan 8, the latch wheel 24 is moved on the shaft so that the detent 48 is disengaged therefrom and the latch wheel 23 is placed in position and secured to the shaft I! so that the detent ll engages the dwells thereof. Therefore, the detent 41 of the lever will latch the rotor 23 in a position with one of the fingers 22 projecting in the path of the foremost pan to detain the pans on the belts while the belt is sliding under the bottoms thereof.

With the molding machine in operation, pieces oi dough 1 are being delivered to the conveyer 6 so that when the first piece of dough reaches the discharge end thereof and slides down the inclined portion M of the belt it deflects the vane 68 to effect closure of the switch and eifect current flow through the winding 5? of the electromagnet whereby the induced magnetism in the pole pieces draws the armature 5i thereagainst and rocks the detent lever 25 so that the detent 48 is lifted away from the latch wheel 23 Whereupon the motive force acting on the pans by the moving belts starts movement of the pans to turn the rotor. By this time the piece of dough has dropped into the foremost pan and the weight 95 fixed to the shaft 69 returns the vane to normal position allowing the switch to open whereupon the springs GI and 64 are effective in pressing the detent 4'! against the cam portion 29 to exert a thrust on the latch wheel to bring the latch wheel into position so that the detent enters the immediately following dwell portion 28 which movement also brings the succeeding finger 22 of the rotor l6 into the spac 9 between the next adjacent pans and as the end of the first finger passes under the forward edge of the foremost pan the opposite side of the succeeding finger is engaged by the foremost side of the following pan. When the next piece of dough drops into the pan then registering with the discharge end of the conveyer 6, the above-mentioned operations are repeated.

It is obvious that when the circuit to the winding of the electro-magnet is closed the lamp filament 94 offers slight resistance to the current so that maximum current flows through the winding to exert a strong pull on the armature, loading the spring 6i and the final movement thereof loadin the spring 64. As the filament heats the current is automatically reduced in the winding to prevent heating thereof. When the cur rent is broken the action of both springs is ample to move the armature even though some effect of the magnetism may remain in the pole pieces.

When it is desired to deposit two pieces of dough in a pan, the latch wheel 23 is removed or moved out of position relative to the detent 4'! and the latch Wheel 24 is moved into position so that the detent 58 engages in the dwell 33 thereof. Therefore, when the electromagnet functions after depositing a piece of dough in the forward side of a pan, the detent works into the following dwell 32 so that the pan is advanced a distance to permit deposit of the next piece of dough alongside of the first deposited piece of dough. Upon the next action the pans are advanced to bring the foremost portion of the following pan into position to receive the next piece of dough. It is thus noted that with the use of latch Wheel 24, two pieces of dough will be deposited in each pan.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have provided a detent and registering mechanism that is well adapted for controlling movement of pans or the like through a dough panning or similar machine.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a unit assembly including a shaft, means for rotatably and removabiy supporting the shaft, a pair of latch wheels on said shaft having differentially spaced cam and dwell portions, a control wheel on the shaft having spacing fingers corresponding with the dwell portions of said latch wheels, and a detent mechanism having a detent means for stopping rotation of the shaft, said latch wheels being positionable on the shaft so that one or the other may be moved into position to be engaged by the detent means to effect advance of the control wheel at increments corresponding to the dwell portions of the latch wheel that is engaged by the detent means.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a shaft, detent means, means for rotatably supporting the shaft relatively to the detent, a pair of latch wheels having dinerentially spaced cam and dwell portions, a control wheel on the shaft, said latch wheels being movable axially on the shaft to bring one or the other of the latch wheels into position to be engaged by the detent means, and means for securing the latch wheels in fixed position on the shaft.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a latch wheel having alternate dwells and cam portions in the periphery of said wheel, a spacing and control wheel having spacing fingers extending radially therefrom and adapted to be contacted by spaced pans in a strapped set for rotating said wheel, the spacing between said fingers corresponding with the spacing between dwells of the latch wheel, means for supporting said wheels in coaxial fixed relation, a rock lever, a detent on the rock lever engageable with the latch wheel for stopping rotation of the spacing and control wheel, means for actuating the rock lever to cause said lever to move the detent from a dwell portion for releasing the spacing and control wheel, and a spring connected with the rock lever to move the rock lever in the opposite direction for bringing the detent into contact with the succeeding cam portion to impart a rotational thrust on said latch and control wheels to bring the following dwell into contact with the detent and the corresponding finger into position between pans of said set.

4. In an apparatus of the character described,

a latch wheel having alternate dwells and cam' portions in the periphery of said wheel, a rock lever, a detent on the rock lever engageable with the latch wheel, an electro-magnet, an electric circuit for supplying current to the electro-magnet, a switch in said circuit for controlling flow of current through the circuit to energize the electro-magnet, an armature for the electromagnet, means connecting the armature with the rock lever to cause said lever to move the detent from a dwell portion when the electro-magnet is energized, a spring connected with the rock lever to move the rock lever in the opposite direction for bringing the detentinto contact with a cam portion to impart a rotational thrust on the latch wheel necessary to bring the following dwell into contact with the detent, and means in said circuit for regulating the current flow to the electro-magnet.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a shaft, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, a detent lever, latch wheels having differentially spaced cam and dwell portions and having hubs slidable on the shaft to bring any one of the latch wheels into position to be engaged by the detent lever, and means for securing the hubs to the shaft.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a spacing wheel having spacing fingers projecting therefrom, a latch wheel having alternate dwell and cam portions in the periphery of said wheel with the dwells corresponding with the fingers on the spacing wheel, a second latch wheel having dwells corresponding to dwells of the other latch wheel and having intermediate dwells, a shaft coaxially supporting said wheels. a detent, and means supporting the detent, said latch wheels being shiitable on the shaft to be alternately engaged with the detent.

IRVING M. ARCHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,249,755 Holmgren Dec. 11, 1914 1,377,844 McCutchen et al. May 10, 1921 1,557,944 Reisbach Oct. 20, 1925 2,195,251 Kimball Mar. 26, 1940 2,338,305 Simmon Jan. 4, 1944 2,355,457 Mares Aug. 8, 1944 2,394,312 Krell Feb. 5, 1946 

